Life and Love
by Monkeys-Are-Dangerous-Reptiles
Summary: One year ago Harry and Ginny parted, now Ginny's getting married. Can Harry get there in time to stop the wedding and reclaim the love of his life?
1. Hermione's POV

bLIFE AND LOVE/b  
  
Ginny Weasley was standing at the altar of a small village church in Ottery St. Catchpole. She was standing before a priest hand-in-hand with her fiancé, soon-to-be husband, Jack Sloper. The church was full of the happy couple's relatives and friends. I, Hermione Granger, was Ginny's maid of honour, of course, and I wore beautiful blue robes, intricately embroidered with illustrious patterns. Ginny's dress, however, was pure white and very simple. It reached down to the floor, straight with very little shape to it, but on Ginny it looked magnificent. The whole church was smiling, except Molly Weasley who was crying, after all, it's not every day that one's only daughter is married. There was in fact one other person who did not seem happy about Ginny's impending marriage and that was the youngest of her six brothers, Ron Weasley. He was on the side of his best friend Harry Potter, who was still in love with Ginny as much as he had been over one year ago when Harry and Ginny had split up...  
  
It was a cold winter's day, Ginny's first winter out of Hogwarts when it happened. Both Harry and Ginny were training to become aurors and both were top of their respective classes. Every day after training in the academy, Harry and Ginny would meet in the atrium of the Ministry of Magic and from there walk together to the apparition point where they would disapparate back to the modest cottage which they shared with Ron and I. Now, on that particular day, Ginny was slightly late because Kingsley Shacklebolt, the auror in charge of her training, had kept her behind because he wanted a word with her. And so, a couple of minutes later than usual, Ginny Weasley rounded the corner and entered the atrium, and nothing could have prepared her for what met her eyes. There stood Harry Potter with his lips pressed against another woman's, a woman who Ginny had never seen before. Tears filled Ginny's eyes but she fought desperately to hold them back. Harry had broken the kiss and stared at his true love, standing motionless, her face pale and her eyes glistening.  
  
"Ginny," he had said and taken a step towards her.  
  
"Don't bother, Harry," she had whispered, venomously, before turning tail and running away down the atrium to the apparition point.  
  
Harry never caught Ginny, in fact he had never again looked into her eyes since that fateful day. Of course, Harry sent Hedwig away with many letters of explanation to Ginny, after all, the whole thing had been an enormous misunderstanding. Harry had been calmly waiting for Ginny, as he did every day when a strange woman had thrown her arms around him and kissed him. Then, as bad luck would have it, Ginny had appeared and seen them before Harry had had the chance to react. Harry sent Ginny's letters every day for a month, but no reply ever came, for Ginny through each letter into the fire unopened, as they arrived. She had run away to the house of Jack Sloper, one man who had always had a crush on her back in school, and had vowed ne'er to return to the man who broke her heart.  
  
Two months after the day that Ginny left, she sent me a letter, stating that she and Jack were to be married and asking me if I would be her maid of honour. Well, there was no way that I was going to refuse her, so I agreed. She had told Ron, of course, about the wedding, but there was always a nagging feeling at the back of my mind. Should I have told Harry? In the end I didn't have to. It was Ron who told Harry about Ginny's engagement, and Harry, who has been so devoid of love his whole life, had his heart shattered into tiny pieces, by the only woman he ever loved. I can still remember how awful I felt, standing in the kitchen and watching him cry.  
  
And so, for a year, Harry was typically Harry. The Harry who wallows in self pity and refuses to let anyone help him. Ginny on the other hand, couldn't have been happier, so she claimed, but I always felt that she wasn't as happy as she said. I knew that deep down she still loved Harry Potter and loved him in all her heart, and that she was only marrying poor Jack to spite him.  
  
This brings me now to the day of Ginny's wedding. Ron and I left the house early in the morning leaving Harry alone in the kitchen, drinking firewhiskey. Luckily, I had cleaned out all but one bottle a few weeks earlier and made sure that neither Ron nor Harry purchased anymore. The drama began when Ginny and Jack were halfway through their vows. A muggle boy, no older than fifteen, burst open the church doors and sprinted down the aisle.  
  
"Do any of you have a phone?" he shouted.  
  
I almost felt like laughing. Three quarters of the congregation were pureblood wizards who had never taken a single muggle studies class, and therefore would have no idea what a phone was. I look around as people shook their heads with puzzled expressions on their faces.  
  
"Why do you need a phone?" I asked him.  
  
"There's been an accident outside," he explained. "A man's been knocked down by a lorry, whilst running across the street. Just outside here."  
  
"What did he look like?" I pressed the boy.  
  
I had an awful feeling in my gut. Something was terribly wrong, someone that we knew was lying there on the road.  
  
"He's got black hair, dead messy it is, and he's wearing glasses, round'uns, oh, and he's got a funny zigzag line on his forehead," the boy told us.  
  
I turned my head, swiftly, to look at Ginny. The colour slowly drained from her face. The hand that had shot to her mouth when the boy entered now hung limply at her side, and she stood quite still, momentarily paralysed.  
  
"I need to call an ambulance," said the boy.  
  
He hurried outside again. Ginny was staring into space. She was so pale that I was afraid she would faint. I knew it then. She still loved Harry, my instincts had been right all along. She loved Harry, she had never stopped loving Harry, no matter how much she pretended that she was over him.  
  
"Go to him, Ginny," I told her.  
  
She looked so distant that I wasn't sure whether she would hear me, but as soon as those words slipped off my tongue, she sprinted away down the aisle, pulling her veil off as she went. I followed her, and stood, watching at the church door as she dashed into the road and knelt by Harry's side. Muggles were gathering around to see what had happened, and it appeared that the messenger had at last found a phone as he was busy calling for an ambulance.  
  
"Harry," Ginny said taking his hand.  
  
She kissed his palm, gently, then lifted his hand to her cheek.  
  
"I love you, Harry," I heard her whisper to him.  
  
I'll never forget what I saw that day. Harry lay in a crumpled heap on the floor, his right arm was bent at a funny angle and a trail of blood was leaving his body. Ginny was knelt beside him, with tears running down her pale face, as her chocolate brown eyes gazed at the man she loved. She stroked the hand, which she held to her cheek and told him repeatedly that she loved him. I was surprised to find tears falling from my own eyes and I hurriedly wiped them away. Ron came up behind me, not long after I had left the church and put his strong, muscular arms around me, holding me tightly.  
  
The wait for the ambulance to arrive seemed eternal, but I have never been so relieved to hear a person speak then when a paramedic shouted to his colleagues,  
  
"He's still breathing."  
  
I felt Ron, breathe a sigh of relief behind me as I breathed my own. When the paramedics had lifted Harry onto a stretcher, Ginny beckoned us forward. Ron and I both enveloped her in an enormous hug and we did not notice a paramedic approaching us.  
  
"Who is his next of kin," the paramedic asked.  
  
"He has no family," said Ginny quietly.  
  
"But he lives with us," said Ron, indicating himself and I.  
  
"What about her?" he asked Ron, pointing to Ginny.  
  
"She used to date him, but now they are just good friends," said Ron.  
  
"Well, I can only take one of you in the ambulance with him," said the paramedic.  
  
"You go, Ginny," I said. "We'll come in a bit. I promise."  
  
Ginny smiled briefly at me. I hugged her once more, then the paramedic helped her climb into the back of his vehicle. I saw Ginny take Harry's hand once more before the doors were shut and the ambulance drove away.  
  
"They're taking him to a /I hospital," Ron said once the ambulance was out of sight.  
  
"I know, Ron, I know," I told him. "But there's nothing we can do about it. We'll send Bill to St. Mungo's and ask a healer to come and see Harry, and we'll organise transport once Harry's in better health."  
  
"Ok," Ron said.  
  
Three hours later Ron and I arrived at the muggle hospital, carrying a change of clothes for Ginny, as I was sure that she would want to change out of her wedding dress. We found her standing outside a side room, holding up and extendable ear.  
  
"Ginny Weasley," I said, trying to be stern.  
  
"They wouldn't let me in," she explained. "I have to know what's going on."  
  
"Fair enough," I said, pulling an extendable ear out of my pocket and watching Ron do the same.  
  
"...lucky if he gets through," one of the doctors was saying.  
  
"He's strong," said the other. "He's got a fighting chance."  
  
"It was a terrible incident though. I've never seen a worse case, where somebody came out alive."  
  
"I know, still, he's young, he's strong, and from what I can gather was in fine health before the accident. He's not out of the water yet, but I reckon that the odds are in his favour."  
  
"Hmm, and I'm sure that one young lady will be all too happy to help him recover."  
  
Ginny blushed.  
  
"It seems like an awkward situation, doesn't it? Well, let's go and tell her the good news."  
  
Ginny, Ron and I, quickly withdrew the extendable ears from the door.  
  
"Miss Weasley," said the younger of the doctors emerging from the room. "It appears that Mr Potter has a good chance of survival. His condition is still critical, but time will tell. He's young and strong, he's got that in his favour."  
  
"Thank you, Doctor," Ginny said, the blush fading from her cheeks.  
  
"You can go and see him if you like," the other doctor said, following his companion out of the room.  
  
"Thank you," said Ginny and entered the room.  
  
Ron and I watched the doctors disappear around the corner before we pulled out the extendable ears again. We watched through the small pane of glass as Ginny took Harry's hand in hers. She kissed his fingers gently.  
  
"I'm so sorry that I never read your letters, Harry. And I'm sorry that I never let you explain. I shouldn't have left like I did, I was just so hurt. I know that you didn't cheat on me, don't ask me how I know, because I have no idea. I can just feel it, deep down inside me. I'm sorry for leaving you, Harry, even after I promised you that I would never leave you. I love you, Harry. I never sopped loving you. Please don't think that I hate you, but I will understand if you hate me. I deserve it for what I did. Please get better Harry. I need you to get better. I love you so, so much. Please, Harry. Please."  
  
Tears fell freely down her cheeks.  
  
"I love you."  
  
She stroked the hair away from his forehead. She must have hated to see him with so many tubes allowing him to live. I know that I hated to see Harry like that. He was always so strong, so unafraid. He could handle pain. It never bothered him. He was brave and he would do anything for anybody that he loved, and even those whom he hardly knew. I couldn't bear the thought of losing Harry, anymore than Ginny or Ron could. At least now, Ginny was with him and if he died, he wouldn't die alone.  
  
For five days Ginny kept her vigil by Harry's bed and never left it, save for when the doctors came to examine him, and her one shower that she took, and toilet stops, of course. And for five days, Ron and I watched on from outside the small side room. Mrs Weasley and Mr Weasley visited on the third day, as did Bill with Healer Augustus Pye from St. Mungo's. Healer Pye had managed to arrange transport to the wizarding hospital for when Harry was awake, but he could not do anything for Harry whilst in the care of muggles.  
  
Late in the evening on the fifth day, when Ginny was alone with Harry, and Ron and I were watching through the glass, Harry's eyes flickered open. Well, obviously, Ron and I whipped out the extendable ears.  
  
"Ginny?" Harry moaned, groping for his glasses. "Is that you?"  
  
"It's me Harry," Ginny whispered, kissing his palm.  
  
"Why are you here?"  
  
"I've been here for five days Harry."  
  
"Five days! I've been in here five days?"  
  
"Yes and I haven't left your side."  
  
"But, why Ginny? You haven't spoken to me in over a year."  
  
"I love you, Harry. I never stopped loving you. I was just hurt. I'm so sorry that I left you. Please forgive me, Harry."  
  
Ginny was once again crying. I was thinking over and over, forgive her, Harry, forgive her, Harry. Ron snaked his arm around my shoulders. He was my only comfort during those days.  
  
"Please, Harry. I love you," Ginny pleaded again.  
  
"I forgive you, Ginny. I love. This last year has been agony without you. I love you so much."  
  
I watched as Harry lifted his hand to her cheek and stroked her delicate skin. Ginny was gazing into his green eyes, something that I'd not seen her do for so long. Ron and I were both grinning. This is how it was meant to be.  
  
"I love you, Harry. I called off my engagement to Jack. You're the only one for me."  
  
She bent down and kissed his lips gently. She told me later that his lips were dry to the touch, after all he had not drunk anything for five days.  
  
"Where am I, Gin?" he asked.  
  
"A muggle hospital. We haven't been able to get you to St. Mungo's yet. The muggles sent for an ambulance before we could contact the healers."  
  
"I was coming to stop the wedding. I had to let you know how I felt."  
  
"I figured as much."  
  
Ginny was smiling. I had not seen her smile for days.  
  
"Listen. Ron and Hermione are outside, Harry. Do you want to see them?"  
  
"Yeah. Will you tell them to come in?"  
  
"No need. They'll be listening through some extendable ears no doubt. Come in you two."  
  
Ron and I looked at each other guiltily. We opened the door and entered Harry's side room, trying desperately to hide our red faces.  
  
"It's good to see you awake, Harry," I said.  
  
Harry and Ginny were both smiling at us. Ron pulled up a couple of chairs for us and we sat down on the opposite side of the bed to Ginny.  
  
"Yeah. We've missed you mate," Ron said.  
  
"Sorry. I guess I just didn't see that truck coming," Harry said.  
  
"It doesn't matter now," Ginny told him softly. "You're still here with us, and we're all together again."  
  
Two days later Harry was transferred to St Mungo's hospital and was fixed up in no time by the expert healers Smethwyck and Pye. The portrait of Dilys Derwent winked at us as we walked past her. She must have recognised us from that Christmas all those years ago.  
  
Anyway, as soon as Harry was discharged from the hospital he and Ginny were back together and catching up on lost time. In fact Harry proposed to Ginny about a month after his recovery. He organised a portkey to take them from our house, to the small Spanish island of Menorca, to a beach called Cala Galdana. It must have cost him a pretty penny as well. Portkey authorisation fees aren't small. And so Ron was saying, Harry had scoured the globe looking for the perfect location, and he chose the wonderful horseshoe beach with perfect white sand and wonderful, clear blue water. The portkey took them to Cala Galdana where the first went to a restaurant and shared a traditional Spanish dish call Paella. Harry then took Ginny for a walk along the beach and proposed to her and the ring is magnificent. It is a relatively small solitaire diamond set in white gold and rhodium. With twist of metal holding the main stone in place with diamonds encrusted into the rhodium plating. It is the perfect ring for Ginny, who was ecstatically happy when she and Harry arrived home that evening.  
  
Now, we have arrived at the present. I am alone in the bedroom, which I share with Ron, writing this down on a scroll of parchment. The house is so quiet now, what with Harry and Ginny being away on their honeymoon. Today, we celebrated their wedding, which was a long time in coming. Ginny was the most radiant bride I have ever seen. Her dress today was again pure white, but more elaborate than her previous dress. I and my fellow bridesmaids, Luna Lovegood, Susan Bones and Lavendar Brown wore beautiful pale pink gowns. Harry, uncharacteristically, showed all his emotions of happiness and love today and an enormous grin never left his face. Ron, Harry's best man, and I had organised pictures of James Potter, Lily Potter and Sirius Black to be blown up and placed at the front, to one side. For Harry, this was the closest he could get to having his parents at his wedding. The ceremony itself was beautiful and went without a hitch. There were no near-fatal accidents, dramas or disasters this time. Unless you count the part of the reception when Hagrid knocked over the cake, but that was easily fixed with the help of a little magic.  
  
Harry and Ginny left for their honeymoon this evening. They have returned to the very place where they first became engaged. Harry always was romantic like that. And as for me: well, I wish my best friends all the happiness in the world. They started out with a rocky relationship, and I just hope that they live happy lives from now on. What we went through as teenagers, with Voldemort, the war, the order of the Phoenix, Sirius' death and all the tragedies, nobody deserves happiness more than us, more then Harry Potter.  
  
I"The path to true love never runs smooth... "/I but true love conquers all... 


	2. Ginny's POV

Ginny's POV

* * *

LIFE AND LOVE

* * *

I, Ginny Weasley, was standing at the altar of a small village church in Ottery St. Catchpole, the place where I have lived my whole life. I was standing before a priest hand-in-hand with my fiancé, soon-to-be husband, Jack Sloper, whom I cared about very much, and told myself that I loved. The church was full of my relatives and friends. My best friend, Hermione Granger, was my chief bridesmaid, she seemed shocked that I asked her, but I would have asked no one else, and she wore beautiful blue robes, intricately embroidered with illustrious patterns. My dress, however, was pure white and very simple. It reached down to the floor, straight with very little shape to it, but on me, so Hermione said, it looked magnificent. The whole church was smiling, except my Mum, who was crying, which is typical of her. I knew she'd blub. There was in fact one other person who did not seem happy about my wedding and that was the youngest of my six brothers, Ron, the one who I was closest to. He was on the side of his best friend Harry Potter, who was still very much in love with me, as much as he had been over one year ago when he and I broke up...

It was the middle of winter, my first winter out of Hogwarts when it happened. Both Harry and I were training to become aurors and we were both top of our classes. Every day after training in the academy, we would meet in the Atrium of the Ministry of Magic and from there walk together to the apparition point, where we would apparate back to the cottage which we shared with Ron and Hermione (who were a couple and engaged to be married). It all happened becasue I was slightly late because Kingsley Shacklebolt, the auror in charge of my training, kept me back to talk about my excellent Bat Bogey Hex. This made me five minutes later than usual for meeting Harry. I did not believe what I saw when I walked around that corner. It was as if time had stood still and I was praying that the floor would just open up and swallow me whole. There stood Harry Potter, the man that I loved, with his lips pressed against another woman's, a woman who I had never seen in my life. I felt my eyes welling up, but I willed tears not to fall. I watched Harry break the kiss and stare at me. I could see shock, guilt and even fear in his eyes. To this day I don't know what he was afraid of.

"Ginny," he said taking a step towards.

"Don't bother, Harry," I hissed, before whippng round and running as fast as I could.

I'm not sure how I got to the apparition point, or how I got back to the cottage. All I remember is grabbing a bag, throwing a few clothes into it and apparating away before anyone could stop me. Harry never caught me. And from that day, until the day of my wedding, I never saw him again. He sent Hedwig after with many letters, one every day for a month. As every letter arrived, I simply threw it into the fire unopened. I didn't want to read any of his lies and excuses. I loved him. I loved him more than I had ever loved anyone and he betrayed me. He wounded me so deeply, it was as if he had ripped my heart out. I ran away to the house of Jack Sloper, one man who back in school told me that he'd always be there for me, no matter what. That was when I told him that I could not go out with him, because of Harry, but now, things were different. I would never go back to Harry. Hermione tried several times to try and change my mind, but nothing ever could. Harry broke my heart, and now I was moving on.

Two months later Jack proposed to me. I found myself feeling less delighted than I should be, after all I was marrying a wonderful man, who loved me very much. I should have been thrilled, but there was a nagging feeling in the back of my head that I couldn't quite put my finger on. Nonetheless, I sent a letter straight to Hermione, telling her about my engagement and asking her to be my bridesmaid. She accepted immediately and spent ten minutes admiring my ring. I told Ron, of course, my parents and my other brothers. I didn't know if anyoneone would tell but, but I chastised myself and told myself that I didn't care whetehr he knew or not. Harry Potter was nothing to me.

For a year I told anyone who would listen that I was the happiest girl alive, couldn't have been happier. Looking back on it now, though, I realise that the only person who I fooled was myself.

I come now to the day of my wedding. Jack was halfway through his vows when a muggle boy, no older than fifteen, burst open the church doors and sprinted down the aisle. I spun round with my hand over my mouth. For a split second I thought it was Harry. I remember it as though it was yesterday.

"Do any of you have a phone?" he shouted.

Had I paused to think, I would have realised what a ludicrous and absolutely hilarious question this was. Three-quarters of the people there were pure-blood wizards who wouldn't have a clue what a phone was. I was so grateful when Hermione, with her ever-cool head in a panicked situation, answered him.

"Why do you need a phone?" she asked.

"There's been an accident outside," he explained. "A man's been knocked down by a lorry, whilst running across the street. Just outside here."

"What did he look like?" Hermione questioned him.

The hairs on the back of my neck were standing up. Hermione was worried, I could hear it in her voice.

"He's got black hair, dead messy it is, and he's wearing glasses, round'uns, oh, and he's got a funny zigzag line on his forehead," the boy told us.

My hand dropped limply to my side. The church began to spin. All the people turned into a pinkish blur. The boy sounded as though he was on the other side of a hill. It was Harry lying out there in the middle of the road

"I need to call an ambulance," said the boy.

He hurried outside again. I stared after him out of the door. In my head a strange voice kept repeating the word 'Harry' over and over again. I loved him. No matter how much I had tried to fool myself over the last year, nothing had really changed. I loved him so much. I couldn't breathe. I felt dizzy. Like I was floating outside of my body. I tried to move, but I felt as though chains were anchoring me to the spot. Chains that in my mind, looked a lot like Jack.

"Go to him, Ginny," I heard Hermione say, somewhere in the distance..

Then I knew it was alright. No one would blame me for running. I had to go to him. I sprinted away down the aisle, pulling my veil off as I went. Without looking at anything or anyone, I dashed out into the road, and threw myself down at the side of the crumpled and bleeding body of the man who I loved.

"Harry," I said taking his hand.

I kissed his palm, gently, then lifted his hand to my cheek. I longed to feel the sensation of his warm skin against mine, to know that he wasn't gone, that I hadn't lost him.

"I love you, Harry," I whispered, desperately.

I stroked his forehead gently, pouring all the love that I had in me in that touch. He had to know that I was there. He needed to know that there was a reason for him to hang on, I reason for him to survive.

The wait for the ambulance to arrive seemed eternal, but I have never been so relieved to hear a person speak then when a paramedic shouted to his colleagues,

"He's still breathing."

I felt dazed. The paramedics were hazy and there was a strange buzzing in my head. I couldn't focus on anything except Harry. I heard the echo of the words I most wanted to hear. 'He's still breathing'. I kept tight hold of Harry's hand until he was lifted into the ambulance. I turned to Ron and Hermione, pleading for support. They took me into an enormous hug and we did not notice a paramedic approaching us.

"Who is his next of kin," the paramedic asked.

"He has no family," I said quietly.

"But he lives with us," said Ron, indicating himself and Hermione.

"What about her?" he asked Ron, pointing to me.

"She used to date him, but now they are just good friends," said Ron.

"Well, I can only take one of you in the ambulance with him," said the paramedic.

"You go, Ginny," Hermione said. "We'll come in a bit. I promise."

I smiled briefly at me. I hugged her once more, then the paramedic took my hand and helped me to climb into the back of his vehicle. I took Harry's hand once more and didn't let go all through the rather bumpy ride to the hospital.

As soon as we arrived, Harry was steered through into a room full of strange looking boxes. A nurse took me by the arm and led me into a room which she called the Relative's room to wait for news. That was the worst I have ever felt. I didn't know if he was alive, unconscious, dying, or already dead. For an hour I waited. I heard nothing. I was going out of my mind. My whole world was lying in that room and they couldn't bother to spend thirty seconds to gave someone a message to pass on to me. Then I remembered. Fred and George had given me an extendable ear to hide under my dress as my something old, for the wedding. I slipped out of the room and went to the door of Harry's room and listened in.

Two hours later Ron and Hermione arrived, carrying a change of clothes for me. It was thoughtful of Hermione, as I was dying to change out of my wedding dress.

"Ginny Weasley," said Hermione, sternly when she noticed the extendable ear.

"They wouldn't let me in," I explained. "I have to know what's going on."

"Fair enough," she said, pulling an extendable ear out of her pocket and watching Ron do the same.

"...lucky if he gets through," one of the doctors was saying.

"He's strong," said the other. "He's got a fighting chance."

"It was a terrible incident though. I've never seen a worse case, where somebody came out alive."

"I know, still, he's young, he's strong, and from what I can gather was in fine health before the accident. He's not out of the water yet, but I reckon that the odds are in his favour."

"Hmm, and I'm sure that one young lady will be all too happy to help him recover."

I felt my cheeks go hot.

"It seems like an awkward situation, doesn't it? Well, let's go and tell her the good news."

Hermione, Ron and I, quickly withdrew the extendable ears from the door.

"Miss Weasley," said the younger of the doctors emerging from the room. "It appears that Mr Potter has a good chance of survival. His condition is still critical, but time will tell. He's young and strong, he's got that in his favour."

"Thank you, Doctor," I said, hoping tha my face wasn't still red.

"You can go and see him if you like," the other doctor said, following his companion out of the room.

"Thank you," I said, pushing the door open and entering the room.

I sat down in a chair beside the bed and took Harry's hand in mine, gently kissing his fingers.

"I'm so sorry that I never read your letters, Harry. And I'm sorry that I never let you explain. I shouldn't have left like I did, I was just so hurt. I know that you didn't cheat on me, don't ask me how I know, because I have no idea. I can just feel it, deep down inside me. I'm sorry for leaving you, Harry, even after I promised you that I would never leave you. I love you, Harry. I never sopped loving you. Please don't think that I hate you, but I will understand if you hate me. I deserve it for what I did. Please get better Harry. I need you to get better. I love you so, so much. Please, Harry. Please."

I felt warm tears rolling down my cheeks. I didn't even bother to wipe them away. There were more important things in life than keeping up appearances.

"I love you."

I stroked the hair away from his forehead. I hated to see Harry with all these strange tubes keeping him alive. I wanted him to get better. He just had to get better. He had to know how I loved him. Harry was always so strong, so unafraid. He could handle pain. It never bothered him. He was brave and he would do anything for anybody that he loved, and even those whom he hardly knew. It wasn't right to see Harry so helpless. I couldn't bear the thought of losing Harry, anymore than Hermione or Ron could. I had only one small consolation. If he died, I would be there with him. He would not die alone.

For five days I kept her vigil by Harry's bed and never left it, save for when the doctors came to examine him, and my one shower, and toilet stops, of course. And for five days, Ron and Hermione watched on from outside the small side room. Mum and Dad visited on the third day, as did Bill with Healer Augustus Pye from St. Mungo's. Healer Pye had managed to arrange transport to the wizarding hospital for when Harry was awake, but he could not do anything for Harry whilst in the care of muggles.

Late in the evening on the fifth day, when I was alone with Harry, his eyes flickered open.

"Ginny?" Harry moaned, groping for his glasses. "Is that you?"

"It's me Harry," I whispered, kissing his palm.

"Why are you here?"

"I've been here for five days Harry."

"Five days! I've been in here five days?"

"Yes and I haven't left your side."

"But, why Ginny? You haven't spoken to me in over a year."

"I love you, Harry. I never stopped loving you. I was just hurt. I'm so sorry that I left you. Please forgive me, Harry."

I was crying once again. I was so desperate for him to forgive me, to know how sorry I was and to feel how much I loved him.

"Please, Harry. I love you," Ginny pleaded again.

"I forgive you, Ginny. I love. This last year has been agony without you. I love you so much."

Harry lifted his hand to my cheek and stroked my face. gazed into his green eyes, something that I'd not done for so long. This is how it was meant to be.

"I love you, Harry. I called off my engagement to Jack. You're the only one for me."

I bent down and kissed his lips gently. His lips were dry to touch, yet still as soft as I remembered.

"Where am I, Gin?" he asked.

"A muggle hospital. We haven't been able to get you to St. Mungo's yet. The muggles sent for an ambulance before we could contact the healers."

"I was coming to stop the wedding. I had to let you know how I felt."

"I figured as much."

I couldn't wipe the smile from my face, and marvelled at how long it had been since I truly smiled.

"Listen. Ron and Hermione are outside, Harry. Do you want to see them?"

"Yeah. Will you tell them to come in?"

"No need. They'll be listening through some extendable ears no doubt. Come in you two."

Ron and Hermione looked at each other guiltily. They opened the door and entered Harry's side room, trying desperately to hide their red faces.

"It's good to see you awake, Harry," Hermione said.

Harry and I were both smiling at them. Ron pulled up a couple of chairs for them and they sat down on the opposite side of the bed to me.

"Yeah. We've missed you mate," Ron said.

"Sorry. I guess I just didn't see that truck coming," Harry said.

"It doesn't matter now," I told him softly. "You're still here with us, and we're all together again."

Two days later Harry was transferred to St Mungo's hospital and was fixed up in no time by the expert healers Smethwyck and Pye. The portrait of Dilys Derwent winked at us as we walked past her. She must have recognised us from that Christmas all those years ago.

Anyway, as soon as Harry was discharged from the hospital he and I were back together and catching up on lost time. In fact Harry proposed to me about a month after his recovery. He organised a portkey to take us from our house, to the small Spanish island of Menorca, to a beach called Cala Galdana. It must have cost him a pretty penny as well. Portkey authorisation fees aren't small. He must have spent days searching for the right place. He chose the wonderful horseshoe beach with perfect white sand and wonderful, clear blue water. The portkey took us to Cala Galdana where we first went to a restaurant and shared a traditional Spanish dish call Paella. Harry then took me for a walk along the beach and proposed to her under the stars. It was so unbelievably romantic. He told me that he loved me, and that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me, that I was the most amazing and beautiful person he had ever met and that I was the only one who had always believed in him, and the ring is magnificent. It is a relatively small solitaire diamond set in white gold and rhodium, with twist of metal holding the main stone in place with diamonds encrusted into the rhodium plating. It is the perfect ring. I was ecstatically happy when Harry and I arrived home that evening.

Our wedding was amazing. My dress was white once more, but this time more elaborate. My bridesmaids wore pink, and Harry still hadn't managed to tame his hair. For our honeymoon we returned to the place where Harry proposed to me and I had the time of my life.

_

* * *

_

_"The path to true love never runs smooth... " _but true love conquers all...


	3. Ron's POV

**LIFE AND LOVE**

* * *

My baby sister, Ginny Weasley was standing at the altar of a small village church in Ottery St. Catchpole, our hometown. She was standing before a priest hand-in-hand with her fiancé, soon-to-be husband, Jack Sloper, who, I might add, was a useless beater. The church was full of the 'happy' couple's relatives and friends including me. My girlfriend, Hermione Granger, was Ginny's chief bridesmaid, of course being that she was Ginny's best friend, and she wore blue robes, I think. Ginny's dress, however, was pure white and very simple. I have to admit that she looked pretty good, even if it was for the wrong man. The whole church was smiling, except Molly Weasley, my mum, who was crying. She never could control her emotions very well. I think she's cried at just about every family wedding there's been, and being Weasley's, there's been a lot of weddings. I wasn't particularly happy about the wedding, in fact, I spent the whole time glaring at Sloper. You see, my best mate, Harry Potter, was so in love with Ginny that it was breaking his heart, all because she was so damn stubborn. He loved her more than he did over a year ago when they split up…

Harry and Ginny were both training to become aurors and both of them were bloody good. It was Ginny's first year out of Hogwarts and she and Harry were very happy together. Every night, once the academy was finished, Harry and Ginny would meet in the atrium of the Ministry of Magic, then walk to the apparition point and come home to the cottage which we all shared, that is, Harry, Ginny, Hermione and me. One day, Ginny was slightly late for meeting Harry. I think it was something to do with Kingsley wanting a word with her. So, a bit later than usual, Ginny turned up to meet Harry and saw something that she must have thought she would never ever see. There stood Harry Potter with his lips pressed against another woman's, a woman who Ginny had never seen before. Ginny began to cry. Harry broke the kiss and pushed the stranger away.

"Ginny," he had said and taken a step towards her.

"Don't bother, Harry," she had yelled.

Completely irrationally, so I thought, she ran away. Normally, I would have gone ballistic, but this was different. I knew that Harry would never hurt Ginny and I always felt that she should have stuck around for an explanation. Ginny returned home in tears. Grabbed some clothes and was off like a bullet. Harry never caught Ginny. Of course, he'd sent Hedwig to Ginny about a thousand times, each with a letter explaining everything. It was a huge misunderstanding. Harry had been calmly waiting for Ginny, as he did every day when a strange woman had thrown her arms around him and kissed him. Ginny had appeared before Harry had had time to register what was going on. He always was a bit on the slow side. Harry sent Ginny letters every day for a month. She never replied. Hermione said she threw the letters unopened into the fire the moment they arrived. She wouldn't even give him a chance. Mum found out that she was staying with Sloper. I always knew that jerk had a crush on her back in school. She vehemently swore never to go back to Harry, not after he broke her heart.

Two months after the day that Ginny left, she sent me a letter, saying that she was marrying Sloper and that she was happy. I put my fist through a wall. First of all, she was meant to be with Harry, and second, two months was way too fast. I knew that Gnny was just rebounding, but there was nothing I could really do to stop it. Hermione was to be her bridesmaid, and she was no happier about the situation than I was.For a couple of weeks I toyed with myself about telling Harry or not. In the end I knew that he had too know. I told Harry about Ginny's engagement, and Harry, a young man who had never felt much love in his existence, by the only woman he ever loved. I don't think I've ever hated a member of my family more than I hated Ginny at that moment, not even Percy. I hated her as I stood in the kitchen watching my best friend cry.

Harry then became typically Harry. He moped around the house, drinking everyday. He pretty much gave up on being an auror. It was like nothing mattered to him anymore. It didn't matter if he died. Hermione was so upset, she didn't know what to do, which has to be a first. Harry was just distraught. He could never cover it up so well. Hermione told Ginny about Harry, and the cold and uncaring look in Ginny's eyes almost made me sick. I could not believe that my own sister could be so callous, especially to someone who had given up his childhood to save everyone. Hermione insisted that Ginny wasn't as happy as she said she was, that deep down she still loved Harry, but after seeing those eyes, I wasn't so sure.

And so came the day of the wedding. Hermione and I left early, leaving Harry and his firewhiskey in peace. He'd told me that he was planning to come and stop her, but I just figured he'd end up drinking himself into a coma, and Hermione and me would find him passed out on the sofa that evening. It was only later that I found out that Hermione had cleared the house of the rest of the alcohol. I was busy glaring at Sloper, during the vows, when a muggle boy, no older than fifteen, burst open the church doors and sprinted down the aisle.

"Do any of you have a phone?" he shouted.

I looked up at Hermione and saw her desperately trying to conceal a laugh. Three quarters of the congregation were pureblood wizards who had never taken a single muggle studies class, myself included, and therefore would have no idea what a phone was. I looked around at the puzzled faces.

"Why do you need a phone?" I heard Hermione ask..

"There's been an accident outside," he explained, immediately I feared the worst. "A man's been knocked down by a lorry, whilst running across the street. Just outside here."

"What did he look like?" Hermione pressed the boy.

Hermione was thinking the same thing as me. She expected that Harry would try something like this to get Ginny back, although I wasn't sure that being hit by a lorry was part of his plan.

"He's got black hair, dead messy it is, and he's wearing glasses, round'uns, oh, and he's got a funny zigzag line on his forehead," the boy told us.

I watched Ginny as the colour slowly drained from her face. The hand that had shot to her mouth when the boy entered now hung limply at her side, and she stood quite still, momentarily paralysed.

"I need to call an ambulance," said the boy.

He hurried outside again. Ginny was staring into space. She was so pale that I thought she would faint. Hermione had been right all along. Ginny still loved Harry, that much was clear. She loved Harry, she had never stopped loving Harry, no matter how much she pretended that she was over him.

"Go to him, Ginny," Hermione told her.

She looked so distant that I wasn't sure she'd heard, but as soon as Hermione had spoken, Ginny sprinted away down the aisle, pulling her veil off as she went. Hermione followed her with me close behind, and stood, watching at the church door as Ginny dashed into the road and knelt by Harry's side. Muggles were gathering around to see what had happened, and it appeared that the messenger had at last found a phone as he was busy calling for an ambulance.

"Harry," Ginny said taking his hand.

She kissed his palm, gently, then lifted his hand to her cheek.

"I love you, Harry," she whispered to him.

It was something that I will never forget. Harry lay in a crumpled heap on the floor, his right arm was bent at a funny angle and a trail of blood was leaving his body. Ginny was knelt beside him, with tears running down her pale face, as she gazed at the man she loved. She stroked the hand which she held to her cheek and told him repeatedly that she loved him. I noticed Hermione crying and trying to hide it. I moved up to stand behind her and put my arms around her, holding her close.

At one point I though the ambulance wasn't coming it took so long to get there. I felt Hermione breathe a sigh of relief when a paramedic shouted to his colleagues,

"He's still breathing."

I felt a great weight being lifted off my shoulders. Harry was alive. Maybe he and Ginny would have a second chance. When the paramedics had lifted Harry onto a stretcher, Ginny beckoned to us. Hermione and I pulled her into a tight hug.

"Who is his next of kin," the paramedic asked.

"He has no family," said Ginny quietly.

"But he lives with us," I said, pointing to Hermione and me.

"What about her?" he asked Ron, pointing to Ginny.

"She used to date him, but now they are just good friends," I lied.

"Well, I can only take one of you in the ambulance with him," said the paramedic.

"You go, Ginny," Hermione said. "We'll come in a bit. I promise."

Ginny smiled at us. Hermione hugged her again, then the paramedic helped her climb into the back of his vehicle. We saw Ginny take Harry's hand once more before the doors were shut and the ambulance drove away.

"They're taking him to a _muggle_hospital," I said, once the ambulance had disappeared.

"I know, Ron, I know," Hermione said. "But there's nothing we can do about it. We'll send Bill to St. Mungo's and ask a healer to come and see Harry, and we'll organise transport once Harry's in better health."

"Ok," I said, knowing that it wasn't really ok.

Three hours later Hermione and I arrived at the muggle hospital, carrying a change of clothes for Ginny. Hermione assured me that Ginny would want to change, and I thought it was probably true. Ginny wouldn't be too comfortable hanging around in a hospital in a wedding dress. I couldn't get over how different it was to St. Mungo's. Wherever you went there was an endless whirring of machines and a downright weird smell. When I questioned Hermione about it she told me to be quiet. Eventually, we found Ginny standing outside a side room, holding up an extendable ear, and I admit it, I was proud of her.

"Ginny Weasley," Hermione said, trying and failing to be stern.

"They wouldn't let me in," she explained. "I have to know what's going on."

"Fair enough," Hermione said, pulling an extendable ear out of her pocket as I did the same.

"…lucky if he gets through," one of the doctors was saying.

"He's strong," said the other. "He's got a fighting chance."

"It was a terrible incident though. I've never seen a worse case, where somebody came out alive."

"I know, still, he's young, he's strong, and from what I can gather was in fine health before the accident. He's not out of the water yet, but I reckon that the odds are in his favour."

"Hmm, and I'm sure that one young lady will be all too happy to help him recover."

Ginny blushed.

"It seems like an awkward situation, doesn't it? Well, let's go and tell her the good news."

Ginny, Hermione and me quickly pulled our extendable ears out of sight. I swear, they are without a doubt Fred and George's best invention.

"Miss Weasley," said the younger of the doctors emerging from the room. "It appears that Mr Potter has a good chance of survival. His condition is still critical, but time will tell. He's young and strong, he's got that in his favour."

"Thank you, Doctor," Ginny said, her cheeks fading back to their normal colour.

"You can go and see him if you like," the other doctor said, following his companion out of the room.

"Thank you," said Ginny and entered the room.

Hermione and I watched the doctors disappear around the corner before we pulled out the extendable ears again. We watched through the small pane of glass as Ginny took Harry's hand in hers. She kissed his fingers gently.

"I'm so sorry that I never read your letters, Harry. And I'm sorry that I never let you explain. I shouldn't have left like I did, I was just so hurt. I know that you didn't cheat on me, don't ask me how I know, because I have no idea. I can just feel it, deep down inside me. I'm sorry for leaving you, Harry, even after I promised you that I would never leave you. I love you, Harry. I never sopped loving you. Please don't think that I hate you, but I will understand if you hate me. I deserve it for what I did. Please get better Harry. I need you to get better. I love you so, so much. Please, Harry. Please."

She was crying again. I tell you, Weasley women have no control over their emotions, not that it's a bad thing, I suppose.

"I love you."

She stroked the hair away from his forehead. She must have hated to see him with so many tubes allowing him to live. I know that I hated to see Harry like that. He was always so strong, so unafraid. He could handle pain. It never bothered him. He was brave and he would do anything for anybody that he loved, and even those whom he hardly knew. That was who Harry was. We all knew that he'd given up a lot to fulfil his destiny and as he lay there with his life hanging in the balance, I had to wonder if he'd ever get to live the happy life that he deserved. I couldn't bear the thought of losing Harry, anymore than Ginny or Hermione could. Harry was my sixth brother, as much a part of my family as any of the others, but at least now, Ginny was with him and if he died, he wouldn't die alone.

For five days Ginny stayed by Harry's bed and never left it, except for when the doctors came, her one shower and visits to the toilet. And for five days, Hermione and I watched (and listened) from outside the small side room. Mum and Dad visited on the third day, so did Bill with Healer Augustus Pye from St. Mungo's. Healer Pye had managed to organise a bed in the wizarding hospital for when Harry was awake, but he could not do anything for Harry whilst in the care of muggles.

It was late on the fifth day, when Ginny was alone with Harry, and Hermione and I were ever faithfully watching through the glass, Harry's eyes flickered open. Well, obviously, out came the extendable ears Fred and George might be a in in the ass sometimes, but you've got to love them..

"Ginny?" Harry moaned, groping for his glasses. "Is that you?"

"It's me Harry," Ginny whispered, kissing his palm.

"Why are you here?"

"I've been here for five days Harry."

"Five days! I've been in here five days?"

"Yes and I haven't left your side."

"But, why Ginny? You haven't spoken to me in over a year."

"I love you, Harry. I never stopped loving you. I was just hurt. I'm so sorry that I left you. Please forgive me, Harry."

Ginny was once again crying. I remember repeating a short mantra in my head, forgive her. I put my arm around Hermione's shoulders, pulling her close. Those few days made me realise how lucky I was to have her.

"Please, Harry. I love you," Ginny pleaded again.

"I forgive you, Ginny. I love you. This last year has been agony without you. I love you so much."

We watched as Harry lifted his hand to her cheek and stroked her face gently. Ginny gazed into his eyes, which was something that she'd not done for a long time, too long. I must have had a huge grin on my face. Hermione was the same. That was how it was meant to be.

"I love you, Harry. I called off my engagement to Jack. You're the only one for me."

She bent down and kissed his lips gently.

"Where am I, Gin?" he asked.

"A muggle hospital. We haven't been able to get you to St. Mungo's yet. The muggles sent for an ambulance before we could contact the healers."

"I was coming to stop the wedding. I had to let you know how I felt."

"I figured as much."

Ginny was smiling. We'd not seen her smile for days.

"Listen. Ron and Hermione are outside, Harry. Do you want to see them?"

"Yeah. Will you tell them to come in?"

"No need. They'll be listening through some extendable ears no doubt. Come in you two."

Hermione looked at me guiltily. I grinned at her. She opened the door and we entered Harry's side room, trying to hide our red faces.

"It's good to see you awake, Harry," Hermione said.

Harry and Ginny were both smiling at us. I grabbed a couple of chairs for us and we sat down on the opposite side of the bed to Ginny.

"Yeah. We've missed you mate," I said.

"Sorry. I guess I just didn't see that truck coming," Harry said.

"It doesn't matter now," Ginny told him softly. "You're still here with us, and we're all together again."

Two days later Harry was transferred to St Mungo's hospital and was fixed up in no time by the expert healers Smethwyck and Pye. The portrait of Dilys Derwent, or whatever her name was, winked at us as we walked past her. She must have recognised us from that Christmas all those years ago.

So, everything was back to normal and we were all happier than we'd been for a long time. Harry and Ginny got engaged, I will spare you the mushy details, that's Hermione's area not mine.

And now it's today. Hermione's up in our bedroom, and I'm in the kitchen eating some beans on toast, simple yet delicious. The house is pretty quiet, now that Harry and Ginny are away on their honeymoon. It was their wedding today and it was about time too. Hermione, the most beautiful of the bridesmaids, and the others, Luna Lovegood, Susan Bones and Lavendar Brown wore pink gowns, pink I ask you, what was Ginny thinking? You could actually read Harry's emotions today, which is something that doesn't often happen, and an enormous grin never left his face. I was Harry's best man, and Hermione, in a moment of inspiration (I think that was how she put it) had organised pictures of James Potter, Lily Potter and Sirius Black to be blown up and placed at the front, to one side. For Harry, this was the closest he could get to having his parents at his wedding. It was a pretty eventful wedding. No drama, no near-fatal accidents, and no abandonment at the altar, thank God. I did find it highly amusing when Hagrid knocked over the cake. I won't be forgetting that one for a long time.

Harry and Ginny left for their honeymoon this evening. They have returned to the very place where they first became engaged. Harry always was romantic like that, and I'm glad it never rubbed off on me. If I ever start to turn sickly sweet like that you have my permission to shoot me. Hermione's thrilled for them. We're getting married soon so she's a bit snowed under with all the preparations but deep down she doesn't really care how it all comes off. We had the hardest adolescence imaginable, although Harry's was worse. What we went through as teenagers, with Voldemort, the war, the Order of the Phoenix, Sirius' death and all the tragedies, nobody deserves happiness more than us, more then Harry Potter. And in the words of Hermione:

_"The path to true love never runs smooth… " _but true love conquers all…


End file.
